Truist Financial Upgrades Block (NYSE:XYZ) to “Buy”

Block (NYSE:XYZ) was upgraded by equities researchers at Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $77.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price suggests a potential upside of 28.77% from the company’s current price.

XYZ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Block from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Block from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of XYZ stock opened at $59.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. The firm has a market cap of $36.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.94. Block has a one year low of $44.27 and a one year high of $82.50.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. Block had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 6.66%. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Block will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total value of $76,350.57. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $70,441.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 271,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,393,858.72. The trade was a 0.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 20,352 shares of company stock worth $1,165,720 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Company Profile

Block (NYSE:XYZ) is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block’s portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.